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“Avid’s a vampire!” Someone shouted through the woods. Scott’s ears pricked. A few days ago, he would have laughed. No- not laughed- cackled.The thought of a vampire hunter- and someone as adamant of the evilness of the ‘creatures of the night’ as Avid was- becoming one himself was hilarious, something that could have been performed on stage to an audience. But now, for whatever reason, instead of a boost of dopamine or the rare feeling of hilarity flowing through Scott’s veins, all he could feel was jealousy. Brimming, boiling, raging jealousy. He wasn't quite sure why. Avid was infuriating, and if he could see his face now, turned to the dark side after so much energy expended on hunting them, that would have brought him some joy, right? Perhaps it was the fact that he wasn't the one to cause his face to crumple that was toning down his exhilaration. Yes, that was it.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, one of his fledglings came running out of the woods, breathless from the sprinting but also her laughter. Her white hair contrasted with her blood red clothes, and Scott admired the cardigan Shelby had borrowed from his own wardrobe as she drew nearer. However, as she got closer, he could see her face was flushed and full, bright like the moon. Crimson stained her lips and teeth, and Scott's suspicions were confirmed as she grinned up at him and exclaimed,
“I got him, Sire!” As much as he wanted to, Scott couldn't bring himself to congratulate her. It was her first proper feed, and as her father figure, he should have been praising her, and yet as he tried to force his mouth into a smile, he could tell it came out as more of a grimace. “Sire?” Shelby looked up at him, her smile turning into a worried look. He was never this cold with her, she was his child, almost.
But without a word, he looked past Shelby into the forest and brushed past her, following in her footsteps and entering a deep thicket.
The woods around Oakhurst had always been Scott’s. He supposed that over the past 600 years, they had been Owen’s, but now he was back, they were his once more. Leaves whistled around him, the trees whispering and the very earth beneath him seemed to pass on secrets. It was the only part of nature that listened to him. Even now that animals wouldn't feed from his hand, and the herbs in the castle’s kitchen were wilting from the water he was giving them, the forest was his ally, his friend. Where is the newest vampire? he demanded of the trees. Nothing dramatic, nothing big and noticeable, but the leaves all seemed to sway in one direction, the weeds underfoot said ‘west’ with their dying breaths, and, of course, there were the screams that pierced his ears coming from that way.
Scott could feel his smile beginning to light up his face as he came into a clearing. The scent of freshly drawn blood flowed in the air, thick and hot. Taking a breath in to laugh, he stepped forward into the lighter patch. But as soon as he locked eyes with Avid, the laughter died in his throat. Usually the sight of someone so weak, so terrified, would have engaged his vampiric instincts, like a wolf noticing a hurt lamb. Avid, however, seemed to do the opposite. In fact, staring, breathing heavily, at his enemy- former enemy, shit-in such a state, Scott felt the most human he had in all 1400 years of his vampirism. Avid himself, however, was losing his humanity in fragments. Under the eyes of the older vampire, Avid howled as he felt his teeth elongate, choking on his canines, scratching at his skin as it turned pale and the last of his blood was sucked from his veins. Crumpled on the floor, he started to cry. Scott could do nothing but watch as the man in front of him tore himself apart. He's lost the only part of him he was sure of,he thought to himself, I suppose I can relate. Avid’s screaming eventually died down, until the only sound in the clearing was soft whimpering. Scott seemed to come back to himself, and approached the hunched figure, who was crying softly.
“Avid.” He said quietly. “Are you alright?” Avid backed away slightly as he registered Scott standing above him, but he wasn't particularly in a state to refuse the help.
“N-no.” He mumbled, sniffing.
“Take some blood, it'll help.” He was offered a bottle, filled with a thick red liquid.
“ Fuck, nonono I can't-”
“You have to. You're a vampire now, nothing you can do about it,” he forced the bottle into Avid’s shaking hands, “you may as well start now.”
Avid’s pupils narrowed in fear, but nevertheless he uncorked the bottle, brought the rim to his lips, and tipped it back. Scott watched as, at first, he drank tentatively, but once he had the taste of iron on his tongue, he took big dregs of the stuff, the red disappearing behind his lips. Once he had drunk his fill, his eyes had tinged slightly red, his face had regained some of its colour, and he looked up at Scott and smiled.
“I see what you guys do this for.” He murmured, voice still small but no longer stammering. Scott grinned, completely ignoring his brain telling him to give a snarky reply.
“Let's get back to the castle.”
Apo stalked through the darkness. She couldn't exactly kill the cows in town without arousing suspicion, so she had to hunt her own. Locking her eyes on one stumbling through the woods, she brought out her claws and began to approach. Closer…closer…closer…
The cow sprinted off as someone spoke and Apo whipped around.
“You fucker- whoever you are, show yourself!”
“Party tonight. All vampires invited. Castle. Be there or be square!” A giggle in the leaves.
“Bullshit!” Apo called vaguely upwards. She wouldn't be going. But the idea of a party…the vampires sure knew how to throw a ball, she knew that much. There'd be dancing, blood, wine…
Alright, she'd go.
“Cleo!”
Pearl ran towards them, her hair bouncing around her shoulders in glee. “I missed you!” Fastening her arms around her neck, Cleo smiled as she was spun around in a way that had become custom from Pearl.
“Missed you too, darling.”
“I got lost again…I saw a chicken and it kind of led from there.”
“Well, you're back now.”
They talked awhile, letting the sun sink further across the sky. Soon the moon would rise, red and shining, once more. They decided to go inside as a chill settled over Oakhurst.
Pearl tossed a salmon to Oscar, who pounced upon it and began tearing at the fish with his sharp teeth, similar to the ones in Cleo's own mouth. They could smell the metallic, sea-smelling blood sinking into the floor even from the other side of the room, and while she was listening to what Pearl was saying, there was some part of them that was sitting next to Oscar, lapping away at the fish’s torn veins.
However, she was awoken from her thoughts as a new voice wormed its way into their ears.
“There's a party at the castle tonight…vampires are all invited.” A pause. “Urgh, fine, you can bring a plus one.” Cleo whipped her head around. Scanning the shelves, the floorboards, the windows, Pearl looked at them, concerned.
“Everything ok?’
“I heard something. Didn't you?”
“No…and usually my hearing’s pretty good. Are you sure it's not, like, a side effect of the vampirism or something?”
“Well…,” Cleo sighed, “it was something to do with the vampires.”
Scott’s sure glad vampires can drink wine.
He downed another glass as he watched everybody dancing in his ballroom, deciding that there were far too many people. They were making an awful lot of noise for such a small number. Or perhaps it was the acoustics of the roof he had so magnificently rebuilt. Either way, he was not enjoying the sensation of being bombarded with noise. It had been such a long time since he had had people to throw parties with, and although perhaps he was not quite acclimated back into the friendly lifestyle yet, it felt nice to feel part of a crowd again.
Cleo and Pearl had only danced with each other. A vampire and a human. That's rare. Cute, though. Shelby was in her element, talking to everyone and anyone, a glass of wine in her hand that kept refilling somehow, and she danced spectacularly for someone who was under the influence of so much alcohol. The person she danced with most, though, was certainly Avid. He was her fledgling now, Scott supposed. Again, that feeling of tightness in his throat, the thrum of something in his chest. He thought for a moment perhaps he shouldn't be feeling so possessive of someone who, by vampire rules, wasn't even his, but dismissed it instantly. It was just the fact Avid looked so gorgeous. The green in his jacket brought out his eyes, but not enough to feel like he was trying too hard, and his hair had been combed back a while ago, but was now flopping down into his eyes again. Scott decided he preferred it like that. And while it was blatantly obvious the man didn't know how to dance, what skills he lacked he made up with in style. He was glowing. Drunk, yes, but shining and happy in his new skin? Fuck, Scott wanted to tear that suit off him. What the hell? Alright, he definitely needed more wine.
Avid, however, no matter how bright or good looking he was presenting, was not having a great time. And before you start to think it was because of his opinion on vampires, it wasn't that in the slightest. He was loving the company. Shelby and Drift were giving him more conversation than he could ever need, and the atmosphere was incredible. It wasn't even the darkness that seemed to seep into every corner of the castle, which had started to seep into him. In fact, it was the feeling of eyes on him. Constantly. They followed him around the room, tailing his every move, watching every move he made. He was sure of it. Yet no matter how hard he scanned, no matter how many details he picked up on the decor (there were some gorgeous tables and candles he had to ask about), he couldn't for the life of him figure out where the feeling was coming from.
“Avid, are you sure you're ok?” Drift asked, sounding very concerned indeed.
“Mhm.” He replied, trying to poke his head above the crowd.
“Seriously, you good?” Shelby appeared at his shoulder, in that voice she'd been using since…well. At the thought, Avid rubbed at the barely healed wound on his neck. It itched.
“Yes,” Avid forced himself to smile, glancing around once more, “now let’s go dance!”
“Sire, are you sure you haven't had enough wine?”
“I'm- ima vampire,Owen-”
“I'm Pyro.”
“Whatever.” Scott sucked in a breath. “We don't- we don't get drunk. Not…possible.” He took another drag from his glass.
“Sire-”
“Have you- seen Avid tonight?”
“Well-”
“Doesn't he look…what's it called?”
“Good?”
“Sexy.”
Pyro furrowed his eyebrows and walked away to go and…you know what, Scott didn't care. A moment later, keeping his eyes on Avid the whole time, a wave of bravery came over him. For the first time that night, he placed down his wineglass and stepped onto the dancefloor. The wood felt crisp beneath his shoes. Pushing his way through the crowd, he saw flashes of green everywhere. Slivers of dark eyes, moments of soft, grey hair. Scott felt like he was spinning in circles, the world blurring around him. Everything was watery.
And then suddenly, Avid was by his side.
As if by magic, the world turned solid once more. His thoughts stood in a line, his vision stopped warping. Avid was like an anchor, grounding him. Like gravity to a planet that was once floating, uncontrolled, through the void. And like gravity, Scott was pulled towards him, attracted to him. Yes, that was it. Undeniably, inevitably, obviously. Like magnets.
God,he was drunk.
“Scott?” Avid was looking directly at him. “You good?”
“Yes. I am. Are you?” Scott smirked.
“Very well, thank you.”
“Rather loud, though, isn't it?”
“Quite.” They found themselves on the edge of the crowd again. Looking down, Scott watched Avid sway slightly. Sobered now, but still repressing the part of himself that screamed to leave this man alone. It was unnecessary when the other part of him was drooling over how good Avid looked.
“Would you like to dance?” He found himself asking. A blush crept up Avid's face, and it looked so beautiful on him that Scott didn't for a moment wonder about the logistics of blood and whatnot.
“I'd- I’d love that.” Taking Avid’s hand, smiling as it fit like a puzzle piece, they wandered back onto the dancefloor as a new disc was placed onto the gramophone. A violin began to play slowly, the sound worming its way around the hall, one singular drawn out note collapsing into another and another until a melody could be picked out. Around and around they danced, their legs winding around each other and pressing closer together as the crowd pinned them together. Their eyes never parted. At the end of the tune, Scott spun Avid around, letting him fall and catching him before he hit the floor. Surprisingly light, he stared up at Scott with the candles reflecting in his soft, dark eyes and laughed.It was more musical than the record. And there was the desire again. To lean down and take what wasn't his. And he almost gave in. In a way, he did, actually. Gave in to the acceptance, acknowledging it, recognising it was there and wasn’t going away. And Avid was staring up at him so prettily…
He pulled him up so that they were standing chest-to-chest. Looking down at where he was a moment before, then back up at the older vampire, Avid kept that light in his eyes, little twinkles that shimmered as he smiled. Scott was content with staying there.